Finding Hope
"Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of the world seek each other so that the world may come into being. Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
At what point do you say enough is enough? When do you begin believing that your way is just not the right way? Where is the tipping point in your recovery? How will you know when you reach it? There are no easy answers to any of these questions. As addicts it is much easier for us to advocate for the negative than to accentuate the positive. We find it difficult to believe we are loved, as a matter of fact, it is much easier to believe the opposite and carry on with our life in the safe confines of our addiction.
The thing that we always need to remember as addicts, as well as the people who love and support us, is there is always hope. Where there is love there is hope. Where there is courage there is hope. Where there is a true belief in the goodness of all people, there is hope. The easiest thing in the world for any person to do, is to quit trying, quit believing, quit hoping. My addiction to gambling was spread over a ten year period, there were many, many mornings and many, many nights that I truly wanted to quit gambling, but I didn't. During that time I suffered through depression, confusion, anger, fear, embarrassment and guilt, but through it all I managed to hold on to "hope"
Today, as I approach the two year anniversary of my abstinence, I still live with that hope. No matter where you are at in your life today, whether you are mired in your addiction or struggling with your recovery, keep hope alive in your life. Finding hope can be as simple as watching the miracle of a bird in flight, seeing the freedom as it soars through the air, and believing in the miracle of a new way of life for you and your family.
Even today, as I struggle with all of my human frailties, I believe in myself and in those around me. The pain and suffering caused in our world today by a multitude of addictions is intimidating, however when we pool our resources of hope, love and our belief in one another, no addiction, regardless of its' strength, can win. We all win when we help each other, we all win when we believe in each other, we all win when we unite, addict and non-addict, in finding hope in our future.
At what point do you say enough is enough? When do you begin believing that your way is just not the right way? Where is the tipping point in your recovery? How will you know when you reach it? There are no easy answers to any of these questions. As addicts it is much easier for us to advocate for the negative than to accentuate the positive. We find it difficult to believe we are loved, as a matter of fact, it is much easier to believe the opposite and carry on with our life in the safe confines of our addiction.
The thing that we always need to remember as addicts, as well as the people who love and support us, is there is always hope. Where there is love there is hope. Where there is courage there is hope. Where there is a true belief in the goodness of all people, there is hope. The easiest thing in the world for any person to do, is to quit trying, quit believing, quit hoping. My addiction to gambling was spread over a ten year period, there were many, many mornings and many, many nights that I truly wanted to quit gambling, but I didn't. During that time I suffered through depression, confusion, anger, fear, embarrassment and guilt, but through it all I managed to hold on to "hope"
Today, as I approach the two year anniversary of my abstinence, I still live with that hope. No matter where you are at in your life today, whether you are mired in your addiction or struggling with your recovery, keep hope alive in your life. Finding hope can be as simple as watching the miracle of a bird in flight, seeing the freedom as it soars through the air, and believing in the miracle of a new way of life for you and your family.
Even today, as I struggle with all of my human frailties, I believe in myself and in those around me. The pain and suffering caused in our world today by a multitude of addictions is intimidating, however when we pool our resources of hope, love and our belief in one another, no addiction, regardless of its' strength, can win. We all win when we help each other, we all win when we believe in each other, we all win when we unite, addict and non-addict, in finding hope in our future.
posted by Taximan at 1:31 PM
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